What's On

FREYA RIDINGS

01/11/2018
19:30£13.50

‘Ultraviolet’ marks a striking evolution in Freya Ridings’ sound after the stripped-back style of past favourites ‘Lost Without You’ and ‘Blackout’. While Freya’s rich vocal tone exudes emotion, the production grows in intensity as the simple piano accompaniment of the introduction explodes into a climatic crescendo of sound. The result is a track, which underlines Freya’s credentials as a songwriter while also exploring a darker, more mature sound.

“Ultraviolet is about parts of ourselves we believe we have to hide – like a diary written in secret ink. When those secrets are not only seen but also loved by someone who sees the light and darkness in you, it’s the most profound and beautiful thing” explains Freya.

Since the release of singles ‘Lost Without You’, ‘Blackout’ and her spine-tingling cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s classic ‘Maps’,Freya’s monthly listeners on Spotify have catapulted to over a million. The tracks have received support from European radio from BBC Radio 1, Radio X, 40PP in Spain to NDR2 in Germany, P3 in Norway, Today FM in Ireland and many more.

Fresh from touring the US with Ella Vos and the UK with Ray LaMontagne, Freya now prepares for a summer of festivals including Barn on The Farm, Montreux Jazz Festival, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. Her ever growing live following around the world is further marked by the announcement of another UK headline tour in October.

Contending with being incredibly shy and feeling isolated at school, Freya found her extraordinary, vibrato-rich, pin-drop voice when she was in just Year 7 at school when she was invited to perform at an open-mic night. Freya explains, “I sang quite low for a little girl, I did this whole raspy thing. Suddenly, though, I'd found my own way. To this day, I still can't believe I got up there. The whole room went crazy. And that was the moment where I thought: 'Maybe I can take this thing that's my own private thing, that I've done on my own, and actually share it with other people.'"

But whether it is live, sitting at the piano, or strumming her guitar, Freya has distilled a short lifetime of uncertainty, and transformed it into songs of alchemical incandescence, magicked into greatness by one of the most powerful voices in a generation.